![AIF 2015 What is college for?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullb7a17466-e558-4501-a5f5-9134ae037014/19170668459_8ab0a0135a_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=450&mono=7d247d&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1600%2C899&w=800)
What I saw was credentialism rather than intellectualism, careerism rather than a real sense of purpose.
Show Notes
Featuring William Deresiewicz, author of 'Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life' and New York Times op-ed columnist David Brooks. At a time when traditional notions of college are under attack — in the shift to online instruction, in the emphasis on STEM fields and the denigration of the liberal arts, in the continued privatization of public higher education — it is urgent that we ask what college is supposed to be about in the first place. What happens when education is understood in purely vocational terms? What happens to schools, to teachers, to society — to students themselves? Why are students learning so little in college? Why are courses so much less important to them than extracurriculars? Why do so many young people today have trouble finding a sense of purpose? What are we doing to our children, and why are we doing it?
Explore
Related episodes
![28245568347 D4715f1e89 H](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/ddb13a22-fef0-4966-ad84-d0f96abd6fad/28245568347_d4715f1e89_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=8a5f4e&q=80&rect=476%2C0%2C1124%2C1125&w=400)
![28245568347 D4715f1e89 H](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/ddb13a22-fef0-4966-ad84-d0f96abd6fad/28245568347_d4715f1e89_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=476%2C0%2C1124%2C1125&w=400)
How do we make college more affordable and accessible for everyone?
![29097784958 1197ee4e6e H](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/42023b9b-4bcd-4e8a-975f-34e716a4d27d/29097784958_1197ee4e6e_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=0a80bc&q=80&rect=533%2C0%2C1067%2C1067&w=400)
![29097784958 1197ee4e6e H](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/42023b9b-4bcd-4e8a-975f-34e716a4d27d/29097784958_1197ee4e6e_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=533%2C0%2C1067%2C1067&w=400)
How can colleges better address students' mental health issues?
![Sal Khan 2018](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/613cb441-8f7b-4d49-87bd-c92d465a096d/43092326461_d11c54c655_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=0a80bc&q=80&rect=393%2C0%2C2012%2C2014&w=400)
![Sal Khan 2018](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/613cb441-8f7b-4d49-87bd-c92d465a096d/43092326461_d11c54c655_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=393%2C0%2C2012%2C2014&w=400)
How is online learning changing classroooms?
![Elizabeth Green AIF 2015](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null395d2dab-ad03-4fcd-804e-d273ff7518c7/19327683052_3eb5821c72_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=8a5f4e&q=80&rect=0%2C458%2C3280%2C3278&w=400)
![Elizabeth Green AIF 2015](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null395d2dab-ad03-4fcd-804e-d273ff7518c7/19327683052_3eb5821c72_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=0%2C458%2C3280%2C3278&w=400)
How can we make every teacher a star teacher?